Reducing method



April 1945. D. N. BuRRUss, JR.. ETAL &

REDUCING METHOD Original Filed Ma'rch 29. 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l JWM I INVENTOP\ DAVID N; BU RRU55,UR.AND UOSEPHEDRAPEAUAJR. BY %m/6' --ATTOR EY P D..N. BURRUSS. JR; ETAL 2,373,657

REDUCING METHOD Original Filed March 29, 1941 '2' Sheets-Sheet 2 INVNTOR I DAVID N.BURRU$S,UR. ;mo oEPH aompuqaa.

BY I u ATTOR EY i ?g anted-A r.. 17, 1945' UNITED: sT rE PAT NT OFFCE j David N. Brnss, Jr., Hammord, Ind., and Joseph E. Drapea, Jr., Calmet City, Ill., assignors to The Glidden Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a cor- 'Original application March 29, 1941, Serial No.

385382. Divided and this application September l, 1942, Serial No. 456,906

The present invention relates to the art of 'reduction of metal oxides and particularly relates to a. method for producing metal powders or sponge, such as copper and iron powders or sponge by reduction from oxides.

The invention has for its main object the production of metal sponge or powder by improved methods whereby the sponge or* powder may be continuously produced.

Apparatus and methods for the continuous production of sponge iron and iron powder have been proposed heretofor, but these have not been commercially successful due to mechanical dimculties which develop after the operation has run a short while. As a result the only commercial source of sponge iron has been that produced from high grade Swedish ore produced by a batch process, which is not only time consuming but technically inefflcient. It is accordingly a special object of the present invention to provide a process suitable for continuously producing sponge iron and iron powder which is'substantially free from the inherent development ot mechanical diiiiculties after relatively short periods of operation.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood it will be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure I is a transverse cross section of the furnace.

Figure II isa. broken longitudinal cross section ary hearth 4, forming the bottom of the reducing' chamber 5, and which extends' into the preheating zone E at m feed end and into a discharging zone 'lat the discharge end of the fumace. Doors 8 and 9 are provided, one on each side of the discharge end of co'nduit 3, which are hingedly mounted at their upper ends and-so arranged to rest uponthe hear-thi, or uponthe charge there- T on, when in closed position and so mounted to be raised by means mounted on the'conveying mechanism, to be described, and to fall back'in closed r position by gravity. r

The reducing chambeis providedwith a heat top ll, beat insulated side walls I i, and heat -insulated end portions l2. which forms the bottom'of the reducing chamber is composed of a refractory heat conducting as to plow through the elevations formed in the The hearth' (ci. 75-.-34) g material such as high beat conductivity brick. The hearth is supported directly upon the structural supporting members l3 of the furnace, so that it is exposed to direct heat radiation to` the 6 atmosphere. By this arrangement thehearth is maintained relatively cool and th'ereby aids 'in prevehting sintering of-the charge.

Members M are Ushaped gas, fired radiant combustion tubes, and are supported in the re ducing chamber 5 by'means of cradles !5, which i are in turn supported by rods !6 carried by the superstructure l'l. Acombustible mixture of gas is introduced through inlet s, bumt in burner !9 located in one arm otthe U tube H, and the 16 burnt gases after passing through the combustion tube are exhausted through exhaust 20. In the form shown each combustion tube extends half way into the furnace from the sides, and they 'are alternately arranged on each side of 20 the furnace. The combustion tubes are of such capacity and are provided in suflicient number to produce the necessary temperature, and other arrangements of the tubes as well as other suitable heating means may-be produced.

The conveying means comprises two endless link chains z carried by drive sprockets 22 and tail sprockets 23. Attached at intervals to the chains 2| are plates 24, upon which are slidably mounted' the rabble arms 25. Attached at intervals to the rabble arms 25 are rabbles 26 for rabbling the charge and for ad'vncing it through the reducing chamber. These plows are 'of two kinis the center 'ones are V shaped, while the side plows of each group are half-V-shaped and are' in- 30 -clined to 'the direction of travel so as to force the charge away from the baflies 21. The rabbles are spaced across the rabble arms 25 andso mounted that they plow fur-rows in thecharge; the rabbles on successivebars being placed so 'i charge .by the preceding plows; The shape of the rabbles, their speed of travel and their number are such that-the charge is conveyed and agitated at a proper rate to effect the -reduction-of 'the charge and toprevent local over-heating with its "danger "of sintering Also mounted upon the rabble arms zs'adjacent the end plows are gate openingmeansza. As thesegate openngmeans come into contact' with gates 8 and S' as well as i gate 29 in the-discharge zone 1, the gates; are

raised to permit passage of the plowsand their v i associated sugpgrting elements. The plates 24- areiastenedto theiiiiks'f the chain in anysuit- 'abler'mannerg or may constitute links th chain. 'Hamas .21 protectthe 'chain'roni direct to overheating' of the rabbling means, the operation ot the conveying mechanism is intertered with and other mechanical 'difliculties are encountered due to sticking and the building up of a layer of hard sintered material on the hearth. For example, the rabbles may ride so high that the rabble bars tear out the heating elements.

To this end a sealed return chamber 33 is provided, which, in the form of apparatusshown, is

placed beneath the reducing cin-niher and is separated therefrom to provide an opening or air space 31. The return chamber is thus exposed to the air on its top, bottom and sides. The walls of the retum chamher are formed of heat 'conducting metal and heat is dissipated by radiation as well as convection. End bays 35 and 36 are provided forthe drive sprocket 22 and tail sprocket 23 respective-ly, so that the return chamber is s'ealed and the conveyor mechanisn is at all times sealed against the air. Moreover 'by thus scaling the various chambers it is possible to maintain a positive pressure throughout the apparatus, whether solid reducing agents or gaseous ones are employed, and thereby preventing the iniiow of any oxidizing orcooling atmosphere into the appara'tus. This is very important in that' it prevents the formation of explosive mixtures in the apparat's. The inflow of cool air or other gas also causes preclpitation of carbon black where carb'on containing reducing agents are employed and would seriously interfere with the emciency of the reduction The arrangement oi the parts also results in maintaining a slightly lower, though still positive, pressure in the return chamber. The gates a, 9 and 29, when opened allow some of the gases to flow out of the reducing chamber into the 'bays 35 and 36 and thence into the return chamher. There is thus maintained a non-oxidizing positive pressure atmosphere in the return chamher and bays 35 and 38. The gates, however, sufliciently retard the flow of gases to keep the reducing chamber at a higher pressure than the return chamber.

The positioning of the return chamlber below the reducing cham'oer also helps to maintain a 5 should prefera'bly be e such that the conveyor elements atno time reach such a temperature that the charge or the reduced material will stick or adhere thereto. In the Construction shown no 'additional cooling means are 'needed: When earbon containing reducing agents are used it is also preferable to keep the conveyor elements below about 1200 F. to prevent any canburizing action thei-een.

A water 'cooled screw conveyor sa is provided in the discharge end of the reducing chamber into which the re'duced material drops from the hearth. `Any other suitable means of conveying reduced materialaway from the fumace and for cooling it to room temperature out of contact with oxygen to prevent oxi-dation may be employed. 'It is desirable to cool the reduced material as' rapidly as possible, particularly in the case of iron, and to keep it from the air'until it has been sumciently cooled to prevent reoxidation. To this end' the discharge conveyor is exp sed'to the reducing =gases from the furnace.

`Any suitable reducing agent. may be used. Where solid caubonaceous reducing agents are used they'may b'e mixed with the material-to be reduced such as iron oxide. Where reducing gases are used they may. be introduced by any suitable means. In the production of sponge iron or iron powder the temperature of the reduction will, of course, be -below the melting point of iron and should 'be below the point at which substantial sintering occurs. I The suitable temperatui-e range is from 14*0O F. to 1850 F., preferafoly the higher temperatures.

In Figure III is illustrated another modification of the invention, particularly suitable when employing a gaseous carbonaceous reducing agent. The exhaust tumace heating gases still contain a considerable amount of heat and it is desirahle to make use of this heat. To this end the -gases from the flues 20 are collected in an exhaust manifold 201, and are then conveyed to a, gas generator and h'eat exchanger 202. In this gas generator, the exlaust gases are employed to preheat a charge of solid carbonaceous material used for the `production of reducing gases. The cooled exhaust gases are then discharged by means of Conduit 203, and the -hot reducinggases are conveyed by means of conduit 204 to the furnace where they are suitably introduced into the fumace for the reduction of the charge there- Alternatively the hot -urnace heating exhaust ases may be simply used to pre-hoat cold reducing gases to b'e introduced into the furnace by, any suitable heat exchange device.

i The operation of the furnace in connection with the production of sponge iron from iron oxide mixed with a carbonaceous reducing agent will be described.

The iurnace is first heated to the required temperature during which time a reducing atmosphere is maintained in the iurnace. During the preiiminary heating period the conveying mechanism is operated to prevent overheating any unreduced material present in the furnace from a previous run, being discharged and reworked. The hopper is charged with iron oxide,` and where a solid carbonaceous reducing agent is to be used it may conveniently be mixed with the `iron oxide charge. Throughout the operation a suflicient amount of material is maintained in the hopper to act as an effective seal to prevent infiow of air into the furnace. When the desired temperature is reached in the furnace the feed 2 is put into operation. Preheating of the charge is eflected by radiation to the hopper I and in the preheating zone 6 so that by the time' the charge is introduced into the reducing chamber proper it eis at or near reduction temperatures and before it has progressed very far in the reducing chamber it is substantially at the fumace temperature. The rabbles moving through the furnace agitate the charge upon the hearth and advance it through the reducing chamber. Due

i heating of the conveying mechanism.

many rabbles are used or the rateof" travel is too sociated rabbles 26, th'e shape (contours) of rabbles and rate of travel of the rabbling means are so regulated so as to properly agitate the charge, i

to convey it through the iurnace in such a time as to complete the reduction, and to prevent over- If too fast' the charge will not be properly reduced. If

' the rate of travel is too slow the conveying mechanism may become overheated and sticking resuit. Too ,slow a rate of 'travel also results in ineflicient operation.

The rate of travel and number of rabbles, however, should be kept at the minimum consistent with obtaining complete reduction so as to avoid heat losses due to the conveying and agitating .elements carrying heat out of the reducing chamber. v 4 As 'the charge nears the'end of the reducing zone ,it should be substantially completely reduced, and the reduced charge is pushed from the discharge end of the hearth and is conveyed away from the furnace where it is cooled before being exposed to the air.

The rabbles and their associated supporting elements are cool as they enter the 'reducing chamber.` During their passage through the reducing'chamber they pick up' heat, but do not ating, and do not reach as high a temperature as that of the charge. During the return of the rabbling means through the. return' chamber they and their associated supporting elements give up tain a sumciently high temperature to cause sticki charge incident to the .low temperature reduction. At the same time the rate'of travel of each rabble and the rate of advance and the degree of rabbling is uniform throughout the whole charge;

, There is, however', no piling up or tendency for the charge to pile up at any point in the fu'rnace.

The process causes the reduced .material-to travel faster than the unreduced material. The temperatures, of course, are nowhere near the the first place the finished material is not subjected to the longer heating necessary to reduce all of the' charge thereby retarding undue sintering. Also any material variations in the thickness of the bed which might occur become noncritical since the reduced material is. more rapidly e'jected from th`e furnace thereby exposing the underlying unreduced material to the radi ant heat. v

` Due to the uniform conditions, local overheating, incomplete reduction as a result of local ,accumulation of the charge; etc., are prevented.

These; together with the provision of means for p'eventing any sticking 'to the rabbles and 'the efiectsof segregation' mentioned above are believed to be the causes for the freedom from mechanical difliculties and`for 'the high purity of the product.

Thereduced iron discharged from the furnace is in the form' of a mixture of discrete iron particles and' agglomerates in the form of asoft iron sponge which can readily be broken up in one's finge'rs.` It-contains a' small amount of free carbon and generally a small amount of silica if silica is present in the initial charg'e. After removal of free carbon and non-magnetic material a product consstently containing as much as 98% free iron has been produced bythe apparatus de scribed. V

By -employing an' apparatus of the type described, long' continuous operation without sticking or mechanical dimculties due to sintering is possible and the form of apparatus shown has been operatedcontinuously for `several weeks without encountering 'nechanical difliculties and with the consistent production of high purity iron powder. i

It is to be understood that modifications and variations may be made in the form of apparatus illustrated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. This application is a divisionof application Se rial No. 385,'782, filed March 29, 1941.

Having described the invention what is claimed is: v V

L'The process of producing' a metal sponge which comprises maintaining a charge comprising divided metal oxide to be .reduced in the form'of' 'a bed within a 'reducing zone, uniformly heating said charge by radiant heat to a temperature sufficient to cause agglomeration of the reduced metallic particles, periodically' agitating and advancing said charge toward the point of ejection by means of rabbles travelling in the same direction as the direction of advancement of the melting point of the iron oxide, butthey are such that particlesof reduced material are softened and agglomeration of the' reduced particles occurs. Due to se'gregation these .agglomerates travel faster in the direction of travel of the rabbles than the unreduced material and since this direction of travel is towardsgthe exit the removal of reduced material if'rom the 'furnace ,is speeded up.

This process-has a number of advantages. In

charge toward the point 'of ejection through the reducing zone, and maintaim'ng the charge stationary except when being rabbled.

oxide is iron oxide.

3. Theprocess of producing sponge iron which 'comprises ro-ming a bed of substantially uniform depth of iron oxide, subjecting said bed of iron 'oxide to the action ot radiant heat in an enclosed heating zone maintained at a temperature of from 1400 F. to 1850 F., 'bringing reduci'ng gases into contact with said bed while heating at the a'forementioned temperature for a sumcienttime to efiect substantially complete reduction of the 'iron oxide, intermittently, but at regular periodic' intervals; agitating relatively small portions of the bed at a time while simultaneously advancing the saine uniformdistances through the heating 'zone toward the point' of ejection from the heating zone, the agitating and the -advancement of 2. The process r claim 'in which the mem depth of an intimate mixture of iron oxide and 5 The method of producing iron sponge which comprises forming a bed of divided iron oxide upon a hearth in a reducing zone, maintanng reducing conditions in said zone, heating said bed to a temperature suflicient to cause agglom= eration of the reduced metamc particles, periodically agitating successive portions of said bed, and periodicaliyadvancing successive portions of said bed by' means of rabbies travelling in the same carbonaceous reducing material, subjecting said v bed of material to the action of radiant heat in an enclosed heating zone maintained at a. temperature of from 1400 F. to 1850 F. for a. sumcient time to eflect substantiany complete reduction of the iron oxide; intermittently, butat ree& ular periodic intervals, agitating relatively small portions of the bed at a time while simultaneously advancing the same uni'orm distances through the heating zone toward the point of ,ejection fro n the heating' zone, the agitating and 'advancement of the bed being continuously carried out on successive portions of the bed by means of rabbles travelling in the same direction as the direction of advancement of the charge toward the point of ejection and maintaining all portions of the bed stationary, except`when they are beins agitated.

direction with reference to' the hearth as the dis. rection of travel of the material through the reducing zone toward the discharge point..

6. In a. continuous method for-the production of sponge metal from the corresponding metal oxide by a pyro'-meta.I1urgical process in which a charge of the oxide is maintained in a reducing zone in the form of a bed? and heated to a tem-' perature suflicient to cause agglomeration of the reduced metallic particles, the improvement which comprises advancing a series of rabbles towards the discha ge point through said .bed to selectively adva'nce the agglomerated sponge metal at a faster rate than unreduced material towards said discharge point.

is iron.

DAVID N. BURRUSS, JR. JOSEPH E. DRAPEAU, JR.

7. The process of claim 6 in which the metal 

